Due largely to the inconvenience associated with the need to wash and/or sterilize conventional, reusable, nurser bottles (i.e., nurser bottles having a body which comes into direct contact with milk or some other liquid nutriment), infant feeding systems have been developed that make use of a sterilized and disposable liner, which is removably supported within a tubular holder (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,763,542). At the conclusion of a feeding session, the used liner can be removed from the holder and replaced with a new liner. Because the milk or other liquid nutriment never comes into contact with the holder itself, there is no need to wash and/or sterilize the holder before it is reused. Accordingly, liner-type or disposable infant feeding systems have become very popular in today's mobile society in which the feeding of infants often takes place in vehicles or in other places where washing and/or sterilization facilities may not be readily available.
Over the years, the infant feeding field has recognized and developed numerous additional convenience features for infant feeding systems in general. For instance, it has been long recognized that infants should be fed in an upright or semi-upright position (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,867). The American Academy of Pediatrics has, in fact, recommended that infants be fed in semi-upright position. The aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,145,867 discloses a baby bottle having a rigid body which is angled or bent to promote the feeding of a baby in the desired upright or semi-upright position. This patent also recognizes that the baby bottle disclosed therein can be equipped with grips designed to insure that the bottle is properly positioned relative to the user and the baby. Such angled or bent baby bottles are not, however, adapted for use in a liner-type feeding system because they do not include means, such as access openings, for permitting air to be expelled from an associated liner as is customary with liner-type feeding systems (see, for example, the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,762,542).
In the past, efforts have been made to provide liner-type feeding systems with the ability to be arranged in a substantially linear or straight position, which facilitates the insertion and/or filling of the associated liner, and then bent into an angled position, which promotes the feeding of an infant in the desired upright or semi-upright position (see, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,556 and British Patent Publication No. 2 109 247 A). As presently understood, these efforts involve the use of bellows to achieve the flexibility required to permit the bottles or holders to be bent between the two positions described above. The use of bellows is, however, disadvantageous for a number of reasons. First, because the bellows create a number of crevices and accordion-like pleats in the internal and external surfaces of the bottles and holders that employ them, cleaning of the bottles and holders is complicated. Second, the bellows also deter the provision of the grips which, as described above, are designed to ensure that the bottle or holder is properly positioned relative to the user and the infant. Third, when used in conjunction with a holder of a liner-type feeding system, the bellows offer a potential pinch point for the liner. Last, but not least, the bellows are plainly visible; and, as such, they detract from the overall aesthetic appearance of the bottles or holders that employ them.
In the foregoing circumstances, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a disposable feeding system which combines the convenience features of conventional disposable feeding systems with other features that have proven to be advantageous in this field, such as the ability to promote a user to feed an infant in a semi-upright position and the ability to expel air from the system throughout the feeding process. Another objective is to provide an ergonomic feeding benefit to the person (e.g., nurser) who uses the present invention. These and other objectives will be apparent from the following description of the present invention.